In this episode of the Selected Podcast, Ben Costantini sits down with Andres Mitnik, co-founder and CEO of Strong by Form, recorded live at JEC World 2025—where the company was named one of the three Startup Booster Winners for their sustainability-driven innovation. Andres unpacks the story behind Woodflow, a timber-based biocomposite designed to replace steel and concrete in construction and mobility. From overcoming investor skepticism to reshaping the structural material market, Strong by Form’s journey blends architecture, engineering, and entrepreneurship into a narrative about building a more circular, lightweight future—out of wood.
What started as a niche academic research project has become a deep tech startup operating across Europe and Latin America, with millions raised in private funding and grants. Strong by Form developed Woodflow, a technology that turns natural timber fibers into 3D-formed structural materials, enabling strong, lightweight, and carbon-reducing alternatives to concrete, aluminum, and even steel.
Their design-driven approach doesn’t just replicate wood planks—it reimagines wood as a high-performance composite, shaped by nature's logic and modern computational design.
Though most of the founding team hails from Chile, the company was strategically incorporated in Spain to operate within Europe’s innovation and regulation ecosystem. Today, the team is 27 people strong and split across Chile, Germany, and Spain.
“Europe is tough on regulation—but it’s also where real scale is possible,” Andres explains.
Yes, their iconic waveform-style logo was sketched in five minutes. Yes, it was inspired by Joy Division. But that aesthetic also represents the undulating structural logic behind their composite designs. Andres’ co-founder Jorge, an architect-turned-engineer, originally developed the idea while studying at ETH Zurich. His mission? Create the lightest, most material-efficient structural slab possible—starting with carbon fiber but pivoting to wood for scalability and sustainability.
Strong by Form’s founding trio came together through long-standing friendships and complementary skill sets—engineering, digital fabrication, and startup acceleration. When Jorge and Daniel realized they had a revolutionary process but no path to market, they called Andres, who had just left venture capital. He joined to build the business—and soon they were securing grants, awards, and investor interest from forestry giants and mobility leaders alike.
At JEC 2025, Strong by Form unveiled a bike frame prototype made entirely from Woodflow, designed using composite logic rather than milled timber. It's a visual and functional proof that their stamped biocomposites can handle form, function, and strength—without carbon-intensive inputs.
“This bike isn’t a gimmick—it’s a signal. We’re building with wood the way carbon fiber is used in aerospace,” says Andres.
While construction remains their core focus, Strong by Form is expanding into automotive and micromobility. BMW was one of the first to express interest back in 2019—and is now working with the startup on large-scale, interior and exterior vehicle components. A million-euro grant is fueling development of their advanced pressing process, and they’re now actively engaging new partners in bikes, transportation, and e-mobility.
Strong by Form’s investor cap table is as unconventional as their tech: four corporate investors (including Europe’s top timber producers and construction leaders) and a mix of impact-oriented VCs. Andres admits they had to throw out the startup rulebook.
“The first thing you're told is to avoid corporates. Well, our first investor was a corporate,” he laughs.
The result is a founder journey that doesn’t follow Silicon Valley tropes—but proves that material science innovation can (and must) be funded differently.
Strong by Form – Woodflow technology for carbon-neutral construction & mobility
JEC World – Global leader in composites innovation